Pay has risen at a faster rate for Britain’s biggest earners than for anyone else over the past 25 years, according to research published yesterday.

The top 1 per cent of full-time workers have enjoyed a 117 per cent surge in between 1986 and 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics. The top 10 per cent and bottom 10 per cent received increases of 81 per cent and 47 per cent, respectively.

The lowest-paid workers’ earnings, meanwhile, have risen by 70 per cent over the same period, mainly boosted by the national minimum wage. Since its introduction in 1998,